Chapter 187
I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 187.
Yoo Tae-rang arrived at the Busan branch.
Without a moment’s hesitation, he headed straight for the command center on the upper floors of the branch. The moment he arrived—
“This—”
The pungent smell of blood assaulted his nostrils, and Yoo Tae-rang immediately sensed that something was wrong.
This wasn’t a scent that should be here.
He kicked the door open and stepped inside.
“……!”
The first thing he saw was Choi Gun-woo.
Instead of Im Woo-do, who should have been leading the branch in his stead, it was Choi Gun-woo who was giving orders.
And the ominous bloodstains smeared across the floor.
“Choi Gun-woo.”
“You’ve arrived, Young Master Yoo Tae-rang.”
Choi Gun-woo, having noticed Yoo Tae-rang’s presence, bowed deeply.
Beside him stood swordsmen Yoo Tae-rang had never seen before.
“…They are the swordsmen of Grandmaster Ja-yeon“
“…….”
Grandmaster Ja-yeon.
The swordsmen of the woman who had recently been showing signs of supporting Yoo Baek-jun were here.
What that implied was extremely simple.
“What happened to Im Woo-do?”
“Branch Leader… no, the traitor Im Woo-do.”
Choi Gun-woo spoke impassively.
“He was executed just a moment ago.”
“What?”
Yoo Tae-rang’s brow twitched.
“For the crime of attempting to harm Yoo Baek-jun, a Successor of the family, Yoo Baek-jun personally carried out the execution using the Successor’s authority.”
“…….”
Yes, it was extremely simple.
It meant Yoo Baek-jun had taken over this Busan branch. And Choi Gun-woo, who Yoo Tae-rang had believed was following him alongside Im Woo-do—
“You bastard.”
—was a traitor.
“I plan to request the family’s intelligence division to investigate who instigated Im Woo-do. Given that Shin Woo-hyun recently targeted Yoo Baek-jun as well, a thorough investigation would be appropriate.”
“…….”
Sophistry.
Choi Gun-woo had been someone who followed and prepared for Yoo Tae-rang’s plans alongside Im Woo-do.
And not long ago, he had even heard Yoo Tae-rang say that they should kill Yoo Baek-jun this time.
For such a man to say these things now—
‘No.’
Yoo Tae-rang’s lips twisted.
‘Is he threatening me?’
It was as if Choi Gun-woo was relaying a message from Yoo Baek-jun himself as if to say: ‘We know what you’re doing. So don’t try anything stupid.’
“Since when?”
“…….”
“Choi Gun-woo. Was it from the beginning?”
“Who knows? I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
Choi Gun-woo smiled quietly.
Mocking that expression, Yoo Tae-rang let out a small scoff and turned his back.
‘Was he never following me from the start?’
His face grew bitterly cold.
As he stepped outside, Ha Yeon-jeong, who had belatedly joined him, hurriedly followed behind.
“Young Master, I apologize for being late. The communication network was restored late, so it took time to grasp the situation.”
“Forget it. What’s the situation outside?”
“Well…”
Ha Yeon-jeong hesitated uncharacteristically.
“…The Flying Dragon Sword Unit and Sword Master Kang Dae-sung are dead.”
“What?”
Yoo Tae-rang’s face contorted.
“They were exhausted from relentlessly pursuing Yoo Kang-ho and were surrounded by the undead. I personally confirmed the bodies, but…”
Ha Yeon jeong trailed off.
The state of the corpses she had witnessed was so gruesome that it was hard to distinguish their forms.
And that wasn’t all.
“Then what happened to Yoo Kang-ho? Did he complete the mission I entrusted to him?”
“…No, the same goes for him.”
“He’s dead, then.”
Yoo Tae-rang exhaled deeply.
He had been completely outplayed.
There was nothing else to say. He had thought he had trapped Yoo Baek-jun, but the opposite was true.
It was he who had fallen into the trap.
‘He knew I would try to kill him and prepared for it. To think he’d even recruit Choi Gun-woo for this.’
Choi Gun-woo was someone he believed owed a great debt to both Im Woo-do and himself.
There was no way he would betray them.
Or so he had thought.
‘And that’s not all. There are more people within the family touched by Yoo Baek-jun’s influence than I realized.’
The disruption of the communication network this time.
And beyond that, the intelligence division, which should have delivered information to him, was completely paralyzed.
Just as he had planted his own people within the intelligence division, Yoo Baek-jun must have done the same.
Given the extent of the information disruption, it was highly likely that the mole was someone close to Lee Ja-yae.
“Lee Ja-yae, you disappoint me.”
Yoo Tae-rang smiled coldly.
That icy smile froze the expressions of those following him.
A cautious swordsman, watching his mood, spoke carefully.
“Young Master, the traitor… Choi Gun-woo must be dealt with immediately. We cannot let him be.”
“Foolish talk. Can’t you see the swordsmen of the Great Sage of Nature guarding him? If we kill Choi Gun-woo in this state…”
“They won’t stand idly by.”
Yoo Tae-rang took a step forward.
“Tell Lee Ja-yae this: There is a pawn of Yoo Baek-jun within the intelligence division. They must be rooted out.”
“Y-yes. Understood.”
“Ha Yeon-jeong, assess the extent of the damage we’ve suffered this time. Depending on the scale, we’ll need to adjust our plans.”
“I’ll do that.”
He quickly issued orders to the subordinates around him, then paused for a moment.
Closing his eyes tightly, he thought:
‘The situation is not good.’
Yoo Tae-rang had brought a large number of swordsmen in preparation for this incident.
Though the exact number of casualties was unknown, a significant number must have been lost.
‘If Father learns of this…’
He would be deeply disappointed.
He wouldn’t cast Yoo Tae-rang aside outright, as he had done with Yoo Kang-ho. Yoo Tae-rang had accomplished too much for that.
But this incident was more than enough to severely damage the trust Yoo Moo-hak had placed in him.
‘It’s possible that Yoo Baek-jun and I will end up on equal footing. And that—‘
Cannot be allowed.
Yoo Tae-rang had never once considered Yoo Baek-jun a rival for the family’s succession.
That bastard lacked both the qualifications and the talent.
Had he not been born into the Sword Saint’s family, he would have lived a worthless life.
“That bastard has no right to become the family head.”
Only he did.
He had received rigorous training since childhood, trained to be Family head, and was expected by everyone to take that role.
Only him.
“…….”
Yoo Tae-rang slowly took another step.
This won’t end here.
Absolutely not.
* * *
Yoo Baek-jun spent some time on the floating island, enjoying an unexpected period of recuperation.
Truthfully, this wasn’t the time to be lying around.
“Ugh, I can’t move.”
—Purr, purr… Mrow.
His body, pushed to its limits, refused to budge.
Despite being flooded with rare medicines and healing magic, the wounds inflicted by divine power refused to heal.
“The Successor of the Death King… astonishing, truly astonishing.”
To think the penalty would be this severe.
Thanks to it, he had managed to easily navigate the notoriously tricky ‘Night of Death’ event.
‘But the fact that this isn’t the full extent of the penalty is another problem.’
From the moment he acquired the Successor of the Death King trait, a grudge with Thanatos was inevitable.
Whether he wanted it or not, he would be dragged into events related to that bastard…
And that was going to be a major pain.
“But ignoring it would put me in danger.”
Yoo Baek-jun let out a deep sigh.
The ability was practically a cheat in certain situations, so he didn’t regret learning it. But the thought of the headaches to come made his head throb.
—Mrowr!
“Ouch, damn it!”
Seol-yeong was sprawled on top of Yoo Baek-jun, purring as she slept.
Annoyed by his muttering, it smacked his face with its tail.
“Hey, you’re heavy! Get off me already. What the hell have you been eating to weigh this much…?”
—Mrrowr!
“Ow, that stings!”
Smack, smack!
Seol-yeong’s tail whipped back and forth across Yoo Baek-jun’s cheeks.
The strikes were so sharp that his face tingled instantly.
—Bad humannn!
“Hey, you’re the one hitting me, and now you’re…?”
—Hmph!
Seol-yeong turned its head away sharply.
Seemed it was sulking because he left it behind on the island.
But there was no helping it.
He couldn’t take it to such a dangerous place, and Seol-yeong was useful for defending the floating island.
“Hmm……”
Staring blankly at the ceiling, Yoo Baek-jun recalled the quests he had recently completed.
Maybe he should check the rewards now.
—Quest [Poison Against Poison, Survivor of the Zombie Apocalypse, Hero of a Turbulent Era] has been completed.
—Calculating the number of people saved during this incident and the time taken to eliminate the mastermind to determine the grade…
The Status window in front of his eyes lagged for a moment. Then, shortly after, the results appeared.
—S-grade! You will receive the highest-tier rewards.
—A total of 2,500 points have been awarded.
—All stats have increased.
—Additional rewards include a Skill Selection Ticket and an A-grade Skill Upgrade Ticket.
‘A Skill Selection Ticket, huh.’
As the name suggested, it allowed him to choose one skill from a selection.
Of course, he couldn’t pick from every skill in existence—a few random skills would be presented, and he’d select from those.
‘Perfect timing.’
Yoo Baek-jun smirked as he recalled the upcoming achievement rewards.
‘Transcendent Lightness, Ghost Phantom Steps. Both are about due for an upgrade. Not bad.’
The question was which one to upgrade.
There were also several minor quests, and Yoo Baek-jun claimed all their rewards.
His total points now amounted to 4,000P—enough to recover the points spent on acquiring Successor of the Death King and then some.
On top of that, one more thing:
—You have achieved a great feat.
—Sublime Savior: Successfully overcoming two main events with minimal casualties.
—Reward: 1,000P and one Artifact Selection Ticket.
‘As expected.’
An Artifact Selection Ticket.
Similar to the Skill Selection Ticket, it allowed him to choose one artifact from a random selection.
"Hmm, is this better than... drawing lots?"
Yoo Baek-jun scratched his cheek.
Both relied heavily on luck, so there wasn’t much difference.
More importantly, he had no intention of using these tickets as they were.
‘A luck-based game. Then I need to find a way to maximize that luck.’
Fortunately, there were plenty of ways to do so.
Yoo Baek-jun carefully stored all the rewards he had obtained this time in his Subspace.
Creak.
“Still alive?”
Right on cue, Jin Seo-yeon opened the door and entered. She carried a tray with a simple meal.
“Good. You’re still alive.”
“You do mean that as a good thing, right? For some reason, you sound almost disappointed. Am I imagining it?”
“You’re imagining it.”
Jin Seo-yeon sat down beside him, crossing one leg over the other, and handed him the tray.
“Food. Eat when you feel like it.”
She glanced over his condition.
“The burns… They've improved a lot. When I first saw you, you looked like a piece of charred meat.”
“Hey, what kind of comparison is that?”
“But it’s true.”
“Can’t deny that.”
He really couldn’t.
When he first saw his reflection in the mirror, it had been pure shock.
Just thinking about it was horrifying.
“And here, medicine.”
“Mm.”
Jin Seo-yeon placed a bottle of medicine on the table.
Each bottle cost tens of millions of won.
According to Min Yi-jae, who had visited recently, Jin Seo-yeon had personally selected the ingredients and prepared it herself.
On top of that, she had visited him without fail every single day during his recovery.
“Want some?”
—Mrowr!
“Yeah, you want some.”
Yoo Baek-jun looked at Jin Seo-yeon.
She was expressionlessly feeding treats to Seol-yeong.
‘Honestly, such a fussy creature.’
Yoo Baek-jun gulped down the medicine.